Jason Phu

b. 1989, Sydney, Australia
Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia

Jason Phu’s multi-disciplinary practice brings together a wide range of, sometimes contradictory, references from traditional ink paintings and calligraphy to mass-produced objects, everyday vernacular to official records, personal narratives to historical events. Working across drawing, installation, painting and performance, the artist frequently uses humour as a device to explore experiences of cultural dislocation.

Phu studied at COFA, Sydney graduating with honours in 2011 and also studied at NSCAD, Nova Scotia. Phu’s work has been informed by several China-based residencies at CAFA, Beijing; DAC Studios, Chongqing; and Organhaus, Chongqing. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in Australia including Westspace, Melbourne; CCAS Gorman Arts Centre, Canberra; and ALASKA Projects, Sydney; ACE Open, Adelaide. Last year (2018) he showed in the Dobell Drawing Biennale at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Burrangong Affray at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Primavera 2018 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

Phu is represented by Chalk Horse, Sydney and Station Gallery, Melbourne

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Artworks

All / Artworks / Installation Views

“I WAKE FROM MY MIDDAY NAPS WITH A TERRIBLE THIRST” #1

“i had a nap and had a nightmare. when i woke up i was still hungry.”

“I WAKE FROM MY MIDDAY NAPS WITH A TERRIBLE THIRST” #2

“the lake dried up and all the Fish died”

“people who are drunk say stupid things that sound like stupid things”

“give me 30 years to learn some stuff ”

“two turtles in love is called a twortle”

“I WAKE FROM MY MIDDAY NAPS WITH A TERRIBLE THIRST” #3

“i walked 10,000 k’s to find you, the roses i brought are wilted, the dried out stems, i wear as a coat”

“in the end even the worms don’t win, the owls pluck them out during the midnight summer rains.”

“i forgot everything i learnt in highschool”

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst"

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #2

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #3

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #4

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #5

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #6

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #7

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst" #8

"woah, that was a really big meal"

CV

Born 1989, Sydney, Australia

Lives and works in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia

Education

2013

Commenced Masters of Fine Arts (Research), University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts

2011

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts

2009

Fine Art Exchange, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019

I was born under a stone mountain, STATION | Melbourne

Procession in the warming light/Procession in the rising darkness, Sydney Opera House, Art Assembly  Commission, ANTIDOTE Festival, Sydney

Real Real #5, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW 

The faces of Guanxiu’s sixteen friends, the luohans of his feverish dreams, Vermillion Art, Sydney  

I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst, Chalk Horse, Sydney

2018

By Hand: Rediscovering the Art of Printmaking, De La Salle, College of Santi Benilde, Manilla  

In the past there were moments of peace, in the future there will be less, when we died there is sleep, Alaska  Projects, Sydney  

My parents met at the fish market, West Space 2017 Commission, presented at ACE Open, Adelaide 

The fruit was sweeter then, the fish were more plentiful, Alaska Projects, Sydney

2017

My parents met at the fish market, West Space Commission, Melbourne  

A shrine for the horse headed god of safe travels and a shrine for the pig headed god of celebration, Underbelly Arts Festival, National Art School, Sydney

Lesser saints and the demons they carry, Art Fairs Australia, Barangaroo Commission, Sydney

Love in all its facets exists in hell. Gonoharea, Syphillus. Chlamydia ring my bell, Art Fairs Australia, Sydney Contemporary Commission

2016

I pray at ashes of my grandmother and at the photos of my grandfather who I’ve never met. I pray for big chunks of meat, for big bowls of alcohol and for sex. They send me demons to battle, ALASKA Projects Sydney 

I haven’t made the work yet but ill be there a week beforehand which should be plenty of time, Canberra Contemporary Art Space  

I’M GONNA FLY FROM SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE. I’M GONNA HAVE A BIG HORSE HAIR BRUSH AND THEN PAINT SOMETHING WHEN I GET TO MELBOURNE, Nicholas Projects, Melbourne

Bull shit is more nutritious than dog shit, Organhaus Art Space, Chongqing, China

2015

North American and Australasian Bestiary, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA  

AMSTERDAMS GRAFISCH ATELIER, Gallery 10+10, Amsterdam

A pomelo, a bowl of beef noodle soup and a pair of slippers, Dimensions Art Centre, Chongqing, China

Its all google translated or taken from chinese newspapers I can’t read, Ray Hughes Gallery, NSW

2014

Fantasy Asia, Indus Vallery School of Art Pakistan

Bridges of Expansion, Southern Graphics Council International, San Francisco  

Irreverants, Gaffa Gallery Project Space, NSW

This is what I think about some of the time, the rest of the time I watch TV or drink beer or sometimes both, Ray Hughes Gallery, NSW  

Lots of jasonphus, Archives Space, NSW

⼥女女⼥女女⼥女女⼠士，先⼥女女⽣生们，2008 年年 H 。M 。S 。GOLDEN CENTURY 即将进攻 BONDIBEACH 。注意安   全，⼥女女⼀一路路顺⼥女女⻛风。 Kudos Gallery, NSW

2013

Throwdown Press, Hong Kong Graphic Art Festival 2013

2012

Begin with Printmaking: the Practice of Mixmedia and Transboundary, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China

Mind and Reality, Roxaboxen Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA

Messages From The South Contemporary Australia Prints From COFA UNSW NTUA, National Taiwan University of Arts

The International Art on Paper Exhbition, The Faculty of Art and Architecture, Rajamangala University of Technology Lana, Thailand

. . .

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019

Jason Phu in Footscray, Due West Arts Festival, Melbourne

Funny dumb weird haha cardboard mask workshop, Kid Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary

Videos of my parents, Prototype, online video

Our Common Bond, May Space, Sydney  

Stop Peeping, Cement Fondu, Sydney

2018

Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

The Burrangong Affray, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney

Meditations on a bone, Heide Museum of Art, Melbourne

Brett Whitely Scholarship Show, Brett Whitely Studio, Sydney

Thinking it through, Peacock Gallery, Sydney

Invitational Show, Home@735 Art Gallery, Sydney

Bowerbird: Clinton Bradley and the Art of Collecting, Western Plains Cultural Centre, NSW

Play Back Dobell Drawing Biennale, AGNSW, Sydney

Auto Body Works, Arts Project Australia, VIC

Human Jerky, Verge Gallery, Sydney  

ICI, Alaska Projects, Sydney  

Awards, Scholarships, Residencies

2020

Animal Logic Studios Artist-in-Residency, Sydney (forthcoming)

2019

Gertrude Contemporary Studio Program, Melbourne 

Artist in Residence, Newington College, Sydney

2018

Mark Silverberg Editions Lithography Residency, Chiang Mai, Thailand

2016

C.A.P. Studio (Chiang Mai Art on Paper) Residency, Chiang Mai, Thailand

JOJO KOBE Team Screenprinting Residency, Chiang Mai, Thailand

2015

Organhaus International Artist Residency, Chongqing, China 

Chongqing AIR (Artist in Residency) Chongqing, China

2010

Printmaking Residency, Central Academy of Fine Arts, China, Beijing

. . .

Collections

Art Gallery of NSW 

Bathurst Regional Gallery

Art Bank

All / Current / Upcoming / Past

"I wake up from my midday naps with a terrible thirst"

Jason Phu

28th February - 23rd March 2019